2012

If Not Romney, Who?

Conservative antagonists should suggest an alternative

The Washington Post’s George Will delivered a body blow to the Romney campaign last weekend with a widely-circulated takedown of the candidate’s pandering. But now, the Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf has a question for Will: “If not Romney, who?” Rick Perry has his own problems with flip flopping (not to mention electability), and Herman Cain’s loose grasp on public policy should makes him a non-starter. As “one of the few elder statesmen of conservatism with any credibility left,” Will has an obligation to suggest an alternative to the candidates he dismisses. Otherwise he’s just another counterproductive bomb-thrower in a party that already has too many of them. (Are you listening, Wall Street Journal editorialists?)